I usually photograph in front of a north facing window after noon so that the light is warmer and less blue, using a $10 vinyl remnant draped from the ceiling down onto a table as a background which helps to capture as much natural indirect light as possible. White poster board works well too.

It helps to use the macro (flower) setting on the camera. I also increase the white balance a couple of clicks because I prefer crisper colors without the moody glow.

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I have a home-made light box that hangs from the ceiling, with nine 100 watt equivalent CFL bulbs. I used to use photo floods, but they got expensive and run really hot. Plus with digital cameras color correction is super simple. The bottom of the box has diffusion plastic, so the light is very soft. My backdrop is a 4 foot wide piece of medium gray photo backdrop paper that hangs down onto the table. This provides a great fade to black that can be adjusted depending on the size of the pot. I'll try to get a photo of the setup this weekend.

You can get these cubes at many places-this place has the lights-I bought a larger cube but shows are my livelihood so great photos are most importantB and H camera(new york mail order house) has the cubes and sells the lights as well.Here are few more shots with this setup.I grew the bamboo for the handlesMark

I've been using a couple of these for larger work, and hanging a single overhead for smaller stuff. They are cheap and work well, they use a high output 5500k CFL bulb that is rated for ~10,000 hours and doesn't heat up like old tungsten. They're easy to white balance for and with either a veritone or seamless grey backdrop, easy to shoot good images with... With the increased availability of photo lights and the decrease in their cost, there is almost no reason not to have a modest photo setup. If you're serious about documenting, applying to shows, schools, or for publication, there is no other way to go.

Attached is a pic of my set up - I made a "light box" -type thing from foam core and white "fabric" shower curtain liner (and lots of white duct tape). The photos I take of my work look good, but the one I took of the set up is a little dark because of being back-lit from the windows (I was in a hurry). The cost of the whole thing was only for the photo floods, long-armed lamps and of course the camera...

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I've been using a couple of these for larger work, and hanging a single overhead for smaller stuff. They are cheap and work well, they use a high output 5500k CFL bulb that is rated for ~10,000 hours and doesn't heat up like old tungsten. They're easy to white balance for and with either a veritone or seamless grey backdrop, easy to shoot good images with... With the increased availability of photo lights and the decrease in their cost, there is almost no reason not to have a modest photo setup. If you're serious about documenting, applying to shows, schools, or for publication, there is no other way to go.

I use three of these lights and a photo easy cube and a varitone graduated backgound-these are the lights to get.Mark